ALBION GARAGE SALES

May you and your family experience a happy Thanksgiving this coming Thursday. How about having a copy of one of my Albion history books on hand for your relatives to read while they are waiting for dinner? Both "Growing Up in Albion" and "Albion in Review" are available at the Albion Chamber of Commerce.

A few weeks ago I saw someone driving an electric car, the Chevy Volt, in Albion. That’s the first one I've ever seen. Imagine how it was 100 years ago when the first automobiles (horseless carriages) came to town. In 1910, there were only 13 automobiles here in Albion, and three of those were the old "steamer" variety. That same year Harry Richards, Sr. (1885-1959) and his brother-in-law Arthur G. Noble (1880-1965) purchased the garage business of Charles Groff and William Forman at 118 E. Michigan Avenue.

The firm was called the Albion Garage. A July, 1911 advertisement in the Albion Evening Recorder boasted that they had established an auto livery. The charge for "cab" service was 50 cents an hour for a party of four. They also sold E.M.F. Flanders, and Brush automobiles at this location for four years. In 1914 the duo added partners, and the Albion Garage Sales Agency was formed. The Garage then moved across the street and built a new building at 302 N. Superior St., present-day site of the Citgo gas station.

The original site was purchased by William Bemer (Albion Mayor after whom Bemer St. is named) who operated his auto garage (Bemer Garage) and sales there during the 1920s. During the 1930s and 1940s part of the building housed our local taxi service and union bus depot. Albion Machine & Tool Company was located here in the 1930s through 1950s.

From our Historical Notebook this week, courtesy of Tom Richards, is a rare 1912 photo of that first Albion Garage auto dealership at 118 E. Michigan Avenue. The signs state, "Albion Garage. Gasoline. Goodrich Tires, Best in the Long Run. There is a tourist car in front, with the signs stating, "Ocean to Ocean, San Francisco, New York." Apparently they were on a trip across America and decided to stop in Albion.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
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